THE UP-GRADE

In April Iain and I are planning to visit good friends in Oberstdorf, Germany (via friends in Paris). All the travel arrangements are now organised. We did everything on the internet - all done with just the click of a button.

Our only hesitation was booking our train trip from Paris to Stuttgart and then on to Ulm in southern Germany. There were only 1st class seats left for our proposed Sunday trip. With Alastair's voice in our heads "Go for it! Live on the edge Mom. Do something way out and different!" we considered: "When have we ever done this?" [Answer: never!] So ... we took the plunge and decided on some luxury! (You wouldn't believe the delight this prospect gives me! I guess I lead a pretty dull life!)

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, John and Mairi were away for an overnight stay in a bothy up north. These shepherd's huts or gamekeeper's facilities are maintained by the Mountain Bothies Association and are open (unlocked) and free to use. They are usually in remote areas where it is necessary to hike in.

They hiked in to Gorton Bothy in Argyll and stayed there last Friday night, returning to Glasgow the next day. (I stayed overnight with the kids.)

John took some lovely photos and these are some of them. The rest are on his Flickr website here.

He and Mairi and the kids were over on Sunday night for a meal and were telling us all about their hike in and overnight stay. Just 24 hours but they had a great time in some lovely country in decent weather.

We had such a laugh at John's quip! When they got there they found they had a room to themselves with the luxury of room to lay out their sleeping mats. Heaven! And as John said to Mairi:

"Aren't you glad I got the up-grade!"